A bowl of this soup is the cure to a sore throat, poor health, and even a sad day! This recipe will have you feeling better in no time. I can speak from experience because I grew up on it. Yes, this is my mom’s amazing recipe for her homemade chicken soup.
Ingredients
- Water
- Half a chicken or two split breasts with bone (wash and clean)
- 7 large carrots (4 for stock, 3 chopped)
- 5 stocks of celery with leaves on (3 for stock, 2 chopped)
- 1 yellow onion peeled and cut in half
- 2 large cloves of garlic
- ¾ tsp of marjoram
- ¾ tsp of thyme
- Half or whole bay leaf
- ½ tsp of fresh peppercorns
- ¾ Sprigs of fresh parsley
- Small square of cheesecloth
- Small piece of twine
- Optional: noodles or matzo balls
Instructions
Fill a large (roughly 6 quart) pot halfway with water. Fill the cheesecloth into a bouquet of herbs (called a “bouquet garnis”): garlic, marjoram, thyme, bay leaf, peppercorns, and parsley. Tie it up with the twine and put it in the water. Add the cleaned chicken breast still on the bone. Then, add 3 celery stalks with the leaves still attached, as well as 4 carrots. Finally, add in your whole onion, cut in half. Add salt to taste (I usually add about a tablespoon of salt). Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 2-3 hours. After the broth is done cooking, strain the broth into a different pot to separate the solids from the liquids. Reserve the chicken to cut/tear into pieces for the soup. Discard vegetables and add fresh chopped carrots and celery to cook in the broth for about ten minutes. If you are adding in matzo balls, you can cook them right in the broth or separately! I suggest cooking them separately, so they don’t absorb a lot of your broth. Noodles can be cooked in the broth. Let the slurping begin!
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